Friday, February 4, 2011

I certainly have been neglectful in writing for fun, haven’t I? It’s certainly not due to being too busy with work, but that’s a rant for another day.

I’m still crime/trial watching, but not as much as I would like, because my daughter thinks I am a doddering nutcase when I do so. However, how can anyone who grew up in the 1970s miss what is going on with the manslaughter trial of Conrad Murray, the physician who was Michael Jackson’s “personal physician,” a man about to be convicted of involuntary manslaughter for gross negligence in Jackson’s death in June 2009.

To me it’s a cut-and-dried case, and I won’t write about that in more depth at this time. What I will write about is how the crazies come out whenever Jackson is mentioned.

My friend Betsy, who not only enjoys reading and writing about crime, lives close enough to the courthouse in Los Angeles to attend trials that pique her interest. She’s worked very hard to be a professional when writing about crimes, and because of her professionalism in blogging about other trials (most noteworthy most of Spector I and every day of Spector II), has earned the respect of the courthouse’s public information officer, and is now considered a member of the media—and that’s a big deal.

Last month she braved LA County public transit and attended the aforementioned Dr. Murray, knowing she would likely “watch” the proceedings from a media overflow room. Working against uncomfortable chairs, less-then-perfect visuals and challenging audio, she took notes during prosecution witness testimony, and posted to her website, Trials and Tribulations.

That’s when the lunatics came out in force. Said lunatics are fans of Michael Jackson who honestly believe a saint was murdered and that Jackson was the victim of a widespread plot.

Hey kooks, here’s the truth: your hero, who was most likely a child molester at worst, someone who no doubt crossed the line with inappropriate behavior with children, a man who bought his three children, a man who hated himself so much he endured who-knows-how-many plastic surgeries, died because he wanted to dictate his own medical care. After he found a doctor who would do what he wanted, he hired the man, a cardiologist by trade, Jackson told the doctor what he wanted and got it. Jackson could have, should have, bought the very best multidisciplinary health care for himself—sleep specialists, pain control specialists, addiction specialists—any of which could have made a difference and helped him sleep at night.

Jackson made a poor choice of doctors. He did not need a cardiologist—he needed sleep. And being knocked out with whatever general anesthesia agent one desires is not a treatment for insomnia. Period. Plain and simple, Jackson must have liked the feeling of being woozy—isn’t that what addicts do? I watch enough Intervention to see common threads, regardless of what the chemical of abuse is, addicts love the effects, be it feeling down and drooly or wired and paranoid. So what if narcotics were not found in Jackson’s blood after his death—there are plenty of ways to get that floaty feeling, and benzodiazepines fit the bill nicely. I am sure that Jackson’s postmortem hair sample is chock full of interesting information.

It’s been quite amusing reading some of the comments Betsy’s gotten from readers from all over the world. Some are pretty rational, but many are rants about how she should make the district attorney’s office charge Murray with first-degree murder and give him the death penalty immediately. Others are certain Murray is a scapegoat for a larger conspiracy, that AEG wanted Jackson dead and because AEG does business in LA County, the DA’s office won’t really properly investigate and find the masterminds of this “horrific” crime.

Recall that Jackson’s child molestation trial was heavily populated by fans that dressed like Jackson, wore t-shirts with Jackson’s image, and waited outside just to have a glimpse of their hero. There is no doubt that Murray’s trial will bring out the same kind of kooks.

So I guess this is my rhetorical question for today: what is so lacking in those people’s lives to defend a very flawed human being years after his death? Whenever anyone says or writes anything they believe is unflattering to Jackson, they become unhinged and accuse the writer of bias, prejudice, being a “hater,” jealous of Michael’s God-given talent—on and on. What makes a person be a fan of something to the point of blindness? I truly loved the Beatles, but I understood from a young age each was an individual, each flawed, and perhaps John, Paul and George worthy of my admiration for their musicianship and ability to write memorable music.

I don’t immerse myself in all things Beatles. I don’t spend money on memorabilia. I have a hard time understanding how anyone could worship anything or anyone like Jackson fans worship him? Why waste so much effort on someone who simply made music? And why make other people miserable with rantings, ravings and unkindnesses—especially toward those who do not fall in line with their thinking?

I’ll be researching and writing an article for T & T about the psychology of conspiracy theories. Perhaps I should also research why some people become so fanatical about someone (usually a celebrity), to the point of being blind and oblivious about that person’s faults. There is only one perfect thing in our universe, and we’d be better served being fanatical about Him.

P.S. Can you tell I am not a fan of Michael Jackson? Never was, never will be.

4
comments:

I have enjoyed and appreciate Sprocket's coverage of the hearing. She has done a great job, and without her, I doubt we would have heard much factual reporting.

I guess one could sum up some of the MJ fans as lunatic, crazed, or whatever. Should they view him as a saint? Probably not. Even though he was a man who spent his life giving and giving and giving, of himself, his money, his talent, and his time. While he was certainly accused of innappropriate behavior with children, he stood trial and was acquitted of any illegal acts. When you consider the hundreds, if not thousands of children he had contact with, there was only a handful willing to extort him. The others were grateful that he took the time to bring presents to them while they lay sick and dying in the hospital. Ryan White's mother is grateful that MJ brought awareness to the world regarding the terrible disease her son suffered from. Ryan was the victim of AIDS, and when the rest of the world shunned Ryan, Michael Jackson embraced him, and changed for the better the few years Ryan had to live.

All the fans have ever really wanted, is for people to take the time and learn who Michael Jackson really was, instead of relying on tabloid falsehoods. Read about the hundreds of charities he supported, the aid he provided to the sick and dying throughout the world. Read the trial transcripts. And only then should you attempt to pass judgement on him.

Very well said Onmyknervzz. I believe there are those individuals who unfortunately form their opinions from reading only tabloids for their news, they have not and will not do any research. In total contrast to the spirit of Mr. Jackson, their desire is not for fairness and truth, their core is hate and to negatively judge others. I do not even think it is a desire as much as a need. On the bright side, fortunately these individuals are limited to blogging their ill conceived judgments and juvenile name calling. We can also be thankful that these same people are not seated anywhere in our judicial system to ever make final decisions regarding the guilt or innocence of any of us. Sometimes it takes longer than we want,but the truth will always prevail.

Onmyknervzz, it is because of MJ's kindness toward Ryan White that I think there was a lot of goodness in him. And though I am not a fan, it saddens me to know that no one, not a soul, was able to help MJ—whatever help that was or needed to be. From a distance I think he needed a sleep specialist and someone to control his back pain. So simple, yet no one could get him to the kind of specialist he needed.

I'm not even judgmental about MJ's needing pain medication and I honestly wish he had been treated for pain instead of seeking and getting the treatment he asked for (general anesthesia for sleep). Maybe he'd have been able to sleep with the correct treatment? We are all quick to jump to the conclusion that anyone who takes daily pain meds is an addict and likes taking those meds. MJ had been to rehab—he was smart and he was smart enough to not abuse meds he would have self-administered. But what happened that day was someone who just accepted that what Murray gave him was safe, in the amounts he gave him. He trusted the wrong person.

He was all so human, a cash cow to so many people, I think they lost sight of the fact he wasn't perfect and needed someone who really gave a damn about him, someone who would have still loved him had he lost every dime, had he lost his voice and his amazing dancing. His children would have loved him even if they'd been living in a trailer in Santa Clarita.

As a former health care professional, I do wish the laws were stronger and that "Dr." Murray would do more time. I'd feel that way if the deceased was a regular person who'd managed to pull together $150K to pay Murray for a month of so-called sleep... sadly the laws weren't written anticipating a crime such as this. I hope the laws are re-written—and that practices such as Murray's become a thing of the past.

I also wish MJ had not thought so "big" about his comeback. His motive in wanting his children to see him perform live was so sweet, so parental. What if he'd done a few dates in Vegas, let his kids see him perform, then "retire" and go back to raising his kids?

Maybe that is the saddest part of all of this. Three kids lost their daddy. Doesn't matter if they were his bio-kids or not. Now all those kids have are videos of their daddy, and his music and some money. I am sure they'd rather have "Daddy" instead of those videos, music and even money.

Really looking forward to your article on the mind set of conspiracy theorists.

Just thinking about how one would study the thought process of conspiracy theorists....I'm sure psychologists have looked at this in depth from a number of angles but my wandering mind is reminded of the many studies done on the brains of psychopaths (sociopaths), where scientists have shown that certain areas of the brain are not properly active (emotion-less?). Scientists have documented sociopaths are "lacking" some critical brain processing activity they see in normal people when shown violent images.

Cathy & Shorty

About Me

I am a middle-aged moderate Republican who is concerned about the direction this country is taking. I'm mostly socially liberal but I am very fiscally conservative and I think too many people in this country are waiting for handouts and not seeking solutions.